New Wild Ophelia Chocolate Bars From the Makers of Vosges

We're no stranger to master chocolatier Katrina Markoff and her awesome line of chocolate and baking products Vosges Haut-Chocolate. So of course we were excited to hear of Ms. Markoff's newest endeavor in the world of chocolate—an American inspired and sourced line of chocolates that features home-grown flavors like Southern peaches and Maine sea salt.

Of the flavors we sampled, we all agreed that Peanut Butter & Banana was the winner. We loved the way the creamy milk chocolate combined with the saltiness of the peanut butter and the sweetness of the banana. Our only complaint was that the banana element may have been overpowered by the heavy peanut butter flavor—of course that didn't stop us from devouring the whole bar.

The Mount Sequoia Granola chocolate bar played the textural contrast angle well. It gets a pleasant crunch from the incorporation of granola from Chicago-based Milk & Honey Cafe. Sadly the mix of vanilla, honey, currant and almond flavors in this granola didn't sing through quite as loudly as we might have hoped. Though what this bar lacked in granola flavor it made up for in its silky consistency and easy snackability.

We were especially excited for the Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chip bar. Barbecue chips and chocolate? Hello savory, spicy, and sweet all at once! Sadly the competing flavors didn't quite come together. And while we enjoyed the crunch from the chips, the actual chocolate was upstaged by the overwhelmingly barbecue sauce-heavy aftertaste.

The Beef Jerky milk chocolate bar had us a little worried—would smoky, chewy jerky translate into chocolate? Turns out it's hit and miss. The very milky chocolate itself doesn't have much jerky flavor, though we felt that was a good thing. The jerky comes in mild, not-too-meaty chunks that are large and sparse enough that there are plenty of bites without them. If you want to satisfy your jerky fix, you're better off with a slab of jerky and a darker bar.

What about you, have you tried this new line of chocolate bars? What do you think about the American inspired flavors?